Doctor: Baby died from infection, not starvation

Wednesday

Apr 29, 2009 at 12:01 AMApr 29, 2009 at 5:12 PM

Benjamin Sargent likely had his last meal three days before he was found dead, a forensic pathologist testified Tuesday.

But the 5-month-old apparently didn't die from lack of food or water as previously reported. Rather, Dr. Scott Denton testified the infant, who was found dead Feb. 12, 2008, died from a bacterial infection brought on because his diaper hadn't been changed for nearly a week.

Andy Kravetz

Benjamin Sargent likely had his last meal three days before he was found dead, a forensic pathologist testified Tuesday.

But the 5-month-old apparently didn't die from lack of food or water as previously reported. Rather, Dr. Scott Denton testified the infant, who was found dead Feb. 12, 2008, died from a bacterial infection brought on because his diaper hadn't been changed for nearly a week.

The boy's father, James Sargent, couldn't look up at the video monitors which showed the gruesome autopsy photos. He sat with his head down, trembling and rubbing his hands through his shortly cropped hair.

Sargent is on trial for the death of his son, found lifeless in his car seat. Tuesday was the second day of his trial on two counts of first-degree murder. Peoria County prosecutors have accused Sargent and the boy's mother, Tracy Hermann, 22, both of 3012 W. Proctor St., of willfully allowing the child to go without food and water for a week.

Denton said he couldn't give a time line as to when the boy died, but said it was unlikely he received any nutrition after Feb. 9. The doctor was adamant, though, the boy's diaper had not been changed for at least five and possibly up to nine days.

As the horrific images appeared on the screen, those in the audience, all but one being courthouse employees, sat quietly and stared at them. One showed the boy's torso, which Denton said had a severe "chemical burn" as a result of prolonged exposure to an unchanged diaper.

Another photo showed the boy's midsection devoid of any fat or muscle mass, a sign, Denton testified, of chronic malnutrition.

It was the infection, he said, that ultimately led to the boy lapsing into a coma-like state and dying, likely a day before he was discovered strapped in his car seat, wearing a light-blue snowsuit which his grandmother had bought for him.

The skin on the boy's back and buttocks had begun to decay, causing the infection that spread throughout his body.

During the Tuesday morning session, prosecutors Donna Cruz and Nancy Mermelstein showed photos of the infant as he was found.

Defense attorney William Loeffel showed several other photos, which highlighted the lack of food in the house, utter disarray of the home and the garage where two people lived, as well as photos of dirty diapers. The move apparently follows his attempts to show Sargent didn't willfully act to starve his child, but rather that he withdrew into a fantasy world after his relationship with Hermann fell apart.

Prosecutors also played a videotape statement given the day the boy was found in which Sargent tells detectives he had seen his son react at 6 p.m. Feb. 11, roughly 21 hours before police arrived. He told detectives he fed the boy one of his two daily bottles and then put him to bed, not checking on him until the morning when he found the boy dead.

That differed from an earlier version in which Sargent told police he had fed the child just hours before police arrived. When asked on the stand later in the day whether that was possible, Denton, who did the autopsy, flatly said no.

It was unclear whether Sargent would take the stand Wednesday in what is likely the final day of the bench trial.

Hermann faces the same charges, and she will stand trial in August. Both face up to 100 years in prison if convicted.